The training camp, which will begin in Kelana Jaya on January 9 and culminate in a January 13-19 trip to Bangkok to play in three friendly matches, however will not be joined by several of their key players.

For example, the names of Akhyar Rashid, Safawi Rasid, Syahmi Safari and Syamer Kutty Abba, who recently turned out for the Malaysia senior team in the 2018 AFF Championship, are absent from the list. Also left out from the list were defender Dominic Tan and goalkeeper Haziq Nadzli, two players from the previous squad which reached the quarter-finals of the 2018 edition, who are still eligible for the next cycle.

However, according to Kim Swee, this camp has been arranged with the emphasis of providing more opportunities for the new faces to prove themselves.

"This (the camp) will provide a better picture and the chance to try out more combinations before the final camp is arranged in March for the AFC qualifiers, which will include Safawi, Syahmi, Syamer Kutty, Haziq, Dominic and the rest," he wrote on his Twitter account.

Furthermore, it is believed that Syahmi, Akhyar, Safawi and Syamer have been left out in order to allow them to join their respective clubs' pre-season preparations. Many of the Malaysia internationals only joined their clubs' pre-season training in the past week, having been given a break after helping the national team reach second place in the AFF Championship.

The 25-man training camp list:

NO.

NAME

CLUB

1.

DANIEL AMIER NORHISHAM

FELDA UNITED FC

2.

MUHAMMAD ZAHRIL AZRI

FELDA UNITED FC

3.

MUHAMMAD AZRI AB GHANI

FELDA UNITED FC

4.

AZARUL NAZARITH

FELDA UNITED FC

5.

MOHAMAD HARIZ KAMARUDIN

JOHOR DARUL TA’ZIM II

6.

MOHD FAZRUL DANEL MOHD NIZAM

KEDAH

7.

NIK AKIF SYAHIRAN NIK MAT

KELANTAN

8.

MUHAMMAD DANIAL HAQIM DRAMAN

KELANTAN

9.

MOHAMAD SHARUL NIZAM ROS HASNI

KELANTAN

10.

MUHAMMAD SYAIFUL ALIAS

KELANTAN

11.

AFIQ SALUDDIN

KELANTAN

12.

MUHD JUZAERUL JASMI

KELANTAN

13.

MUHAMMAD DANISH HAZIQ SAIPUL HISHAM

NEGERI SEMBILAN

14.

KOGILESWARAN RAJ

PAHANG

15.

MOHD FAISAL ABDUL HALIM

PAHANG

16.

MUHAMMAD NAZIRUL AFIF IBRAHIM

PERAK

17.

DAMIEN LIM CHIEN KHAI

PKNS

18.

ARIFF AR RASYID ARIFFIN

PKNS

19.

MUHAMMAD JAFRI CHEW

PKNS

20.

ARIUSDIUS JAIS

SABAH

21.

EVAN WENSLEY WENCESLAUS

SABAH

22.

JORDON OLLERENSHAW

SABAH

23.

MUHAMMAD AMIRUL HAZIQ RASMIZAL

SELANGOR

24.

MUHAMMAD IZZAN SYAHMI MUSTAPA

TERENGGANU

25.

KHATUL ANUAR MD JALIL

KUALA LUMPUR

Kim Swee has had considerable success with the junior side in the past two years. In July 2017, he guided them to the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship finals as qualification group champions, before ending their Southeast Asian Games campaign as runners up less than a month later. In the AFC finals in January 2018, they became the first ever Southeast Asian side to reach the knockout stage in the competition, before they were edged out 2-1 by South Korea in the quarter-finals. They then exacted revenge against the same side in the 2018 Asian Games to emerge as group winners, although the East Asian side would go on to win the tournament.

Most recently, Kim Swee's charges finished the 2018 Newspaper Cup in third place.

In the 2020 edition qualifiers, Malaysia have been drawn in Group J alongside China, Laos and the Philippines, with the six matches set to be held in Malaysia. Group winners will earn automatic spots in the finals, alongside four best second-place finishers.

The finals, set to be held in Thailand in January 2020, will see the top three finishers also qualifying to the 2020 Olympics.